Battle of Carentan

The Battle of Carentan (10-14 June 1944) was a battle between the United States and Nazi Germany during Operation Overlord in World War II. US ground forces, assisted by the US 101st Airborne Division, succeeded in their assault on the German positions at Carentan, with the paratroopers landing behind enemy lines and securing their firing positions. The US Air Force bombed German positions, allowing for the Allied infantry to take out the weakened German defenses. The battle resulted in an American victory, and the US secured a foothold in Normandy.

Background
On 6 June 1944, the US Army landed at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach in Normandy during Operation Overlord, and the D-Day landings allowed for the Allies to prepare for a push inlands, through the Wehrmacht defenses and the hedgerows. However, the German forces prepared for a counterattack against the Allies to drive them back into the sea, and the Americans found it imperative that the German-held town of Carentan be taken so that the Americans could have a foothold in Normandy from which to fight the Nazis. The US 101st Airborne Division would be given the responsibility of taking Carentan, while ground forces from the two beachheads assisted them.

Meanwhile, the Germans assembled an army in Carentan so that they could fight the Americans. The Germans had two battalions of Ostlegionen (Soviet Union prisoners of war pressed into the German military) in addition to some paratroopers, and they were also able to station a panzer battalion and assault guns at the front lines to fight against the Americans.

Battle
The American forces set out to clear all German opposition up the road to Carentan, and they dispatched riflemen to take out German machine-gun positions in front of the main bridge. Resistance was tough, and the Americans repeatedly called in reinforcements. They succeeded in holding off small German attacks on their camp across the river, and they captured the first line of defenses from the Germans. This allowed for the Americans to call in armored support, and the US riflemen were reinforced by the US Army Rangers and vehicles. Together, they pushed on the next German positions at two manor houses in farmland, advancing through the fields and launching assaults against the Germans. With the capture of these positions, the Americans were able to send in the US 101st Airborne Division, which landed paratroopers behind enemy lines. Individual US paratrooper units could secure enemy positions without needing to fight their way to the positions, and they were utilized as a way to get around German positions while regular US troops fought off some German armor and soldiers. US Air Force bombers played a hand in the advance of the Americans, pounding German positions at their main camp and at one of their occupied farms. The Americans pushed towards the German main camp next to some railroad tracks, and after fighting off some battered German troops, they occupied the town and secured Carentan for the USA. The Americans were victorious, one of the first towns that they liberated from the Germans.